Taking It Easy in Seville

Seville's main thoroughfare

Kids love the
sightseeing bus

Besides it’s monumental cathedral and vibrant flamenco dancing, Seville is probably best known for its furnace like heat in July and August. Thus we knew we had to take it slow and not run around the city all day. One of the things I love to do in new cities is just walk around and get a feel for the energy and vitality of a place – but with the combination of the heat and two kids with boundless energy for everything EXCEPT walking around cities this was going to be difficult.

Columbus' tomb in
Seville's cathedral

Solution for Seville day #1 was to take a sightseeing bus. The kids loved it and we got a sense of the sights and layout of Seville.  Later on we meandered through Seville's gargantuan cathedral.

inside of Seville's cathedral

no better way to beat the 100 degree
heat than playing in the fountains

For Seville we booked an apartment via the Internet with not too much research just a couple weeks ago. We got fairly lucky as the apartment was located right on one of the main plazas of the city. The feel of the neighborhood is just like the East Village, so we felt right at home. The other similarity was the apartment's tiny size– probably about a third of the size of our former place on E 8th Street.

flamenco show

Royal gardens labyrinth

For Day #2 we strolled through the old Jewish Quarter which led to a lot of conversations about being Jewish and its history of persecution. Later in the evening we enjoyed a mesmerizing flamenco show.

On Day #3 we visited the old Spanish royal palace and gardens and then let the kids dictate the rest of the day. Rhonda and I took turns being with the kids and taking off for strolls around the city in the evening.

This ice cream was unanimously voted the best on
our European tour! So good we went back three
times in three days!